Midland331, I was one of the lucky souls who saw the SAS Caravelle deploy its parachute - amazing sight. I dunno whether it was its first flight into MAN, but the weather on the day was slushy snow, so I always assumed that was why it deployed.
And Sir George, thanks for recalling the rubber tiles, I'd completely forgotten them - ah, happy days - especially on 'div days' when LHR was fogbound and we'd get all the 'rare' beasts in...